Bortolotti takes eighth pole of season with inspired strategy in first qualifying
Mirko Bortolotti secured his eighth pole position of the season with an inspired strategy in first qualifying at Barcelona
The Italian opted to sit out the opening minutes of qualifying, instead choosing to emerge on fresh rubber as the rest of the field headed to the pits for a tyre change.
Bortolotti made full use of the resulting clean air, dropping down to a 1m37.874s which was unbeaten for the remainder of the session.
Spain's Miki Monras, in the hunt for third in the championship, came closest to displacing Bortolotti as he got to within two tenths of the pole time.
Fellow Spaniard Ramon Pineiro, Monras' main rival for third, will start behind Bortolotti after rising up the timesheets throughout the session. He will share the second row with Tobias Hegewald, a pacesetter in practice.
Mihai Marinescu, another driver in the hunt for third, will line up alongside Christopher Zanella on the third row. Zanella currently lies second, but can be overtaken by Pineiro if results go the Spaniard's way.
Having set the early pace on old rubber, Jack Clarke edged out Alex Brundle in the fight for seventh, while Mikkel Mac was the last driver to finish within one second of Bortolotti's time in ninth. Benjamin Lariche rounded out the top ten.
Pos Driver Time Gap 1. Mirko Bortolotti 1m37.874s 2. Miki Monras 1m38.066s + 0.192s 3. Ramon Pineiro 1m38.348s + 0.474s 4. Tobias Hegewald 1m38.424s + 0.550s 5. Mihai Marinescu 1m38.516s + 0.642s 6. Christopher Zanella 1m38.692s + 0.818s 7. Jack Clarke 1m38.697s + 0.823s 8. Alex Brundle 1m38.725s + 0.851s 9. Mikkel Mac 1m38.788s + 0.914s 10. Benjamin Lariche 1m39.027s + 1.153s 11. Kelvin Snoeks 1m39.285s + 1.411s 12. James Cole 1m39.350s + 1.476s 13. Maxim Snegirev 1m39.355s + 1.481s 14. Thiemo Storz 1m39.464s + 1.590s 15. Sunghak Mun 1m39.698s + 1.824s 16. Plamen Kralev 1m40.150s + 2.276s 17. Parthiva Sureshwaren 1m40.280s + 2.406s 18. Jose Luis Abadin 1m40.370s + 2.496s
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